Kern County: Passenger Rudy Pinedo Killed in Semi Crash

Shortly after midnight on Saturday, April 7th, 33-year-old Rudy Pinedo, a passenger in a 1998 Dodge pickup, was killed when the vehicle crashed into a semi in Kern County. While traveling east on Highway 119, the driver of the pickup, 34-year-old Jason Porschakin, veered onto the shoulder of the westbound lane and struck a 2009 semi stopped on Tupman Road. Pinedo was pronounced dead at the scene. Porschakin sustained major trauma and was taken to a local hospital, as was the semi driver, who suffered minor injuries.

“When a passenger suffers serious or fatal injury in a car or truck accident, the driver responsible for the crash may be held liable for expenses incurred by the victim during recovery or by his or her family due to their loss,” explained California truck accident lawyer James Ballidis.

Throughout Kern County, 136 motor vehicle occupants were killed and 4,313 were injured in traffic accidents in 2009, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System. That year, 19 of these fatalities and 158 of the injuries were sustained in collisions involving semi and other large trucks.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the family of Rudy Pinedo, the passenger who was killed last Saturday.

Bakersfield.com originally reported this Kern County semi crash.

Resources for accident victims and their families, including books and articles on passenger’s rights and the process of pursuing an injury or a wrongful death claim, are available to the public free of charge.